


Yellow For Friendship

by Theyna_Shipper



Series: Star Wars One-Shots [22]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Flowers, HEA Guaranteed, Idiots in Love, Language of Flowers, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, accidental friendzoning, actress!Rey, idiots in general
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:34:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24986155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theyna_Shipper/pseuds/Theyna_Shipper
Summary: Rey has not seen her crush, Ben, in six months. When he returns, he sends a bouquet of flowers ahead of him. She is devastated- all the flowers he sends mean friendship, and she is certain he is trying to friendzone her.Ben has no idea what the flowers mean. He just remembers Rey's favorite color is yellow. Why is she so mad at him?
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Star Wars One-Shots [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637683
Comments: 11
Kudos: 135





	Yellow For Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> So I went to a really nice garden yesterday and I wanted to write a flower fic. Here's just a cute oneshot. Please enjoy!

Rey steps into her dressing room after getting her makeup done. She is running purely on adrenaline and hairspray now, having reached the last show on the last day of this performance’s tenure. She will crash as soon as she walks off the stage, but she doesn’t have to worry about that until then. 

All in all, it’s a low-stress performance. The show has been a massive hit, and hardly anyone will be at this last one. She would just like to go out on a good note, so to speak. 

Then she sees the _massive_ bouquet sitting on her desk. 

It is beautiful: yellows and oranges and a couple notes of purple. She could stare at them for hours. 

A single card sits among them. The outside reads _From Ben_ , but she doesn’t need that to recognize his handwriting.

* * *

_**Six Months Ago** _

_Rey looks nervously at the table. Ben texted her four minutes ago to say he’d be there in five minutes. If all goes well, this will be their first date after one year of friendship._

_Rey can’t keep her feelings hidden anymore. Tonight she will tell Ben, and pray his answer will be the same._

_A single red rose rests on the table, to stand for love- Rey loves flower meanings. It was all she could do not to set a whole bouquet on the table, adding only a little baby’s breath for love and purity._

_Ben arrives looking as beautiful as always. Rey’s heart is in her throat and her nerves more fried than during any performance._

_“Hi,” she manages._

_He smiles nervously and sits down. “Hi. I have something I need to tell you.”_

That was supposed to be my line, _Rey thinks. Is this going to throw a wrench into her perfect plan? “Go ahead.”_

_“I’m moving to Japan.”_

_She knocks over her water in surprise, her racing heart instantly stopping. “Sorry! I’m just- wow. That’s- did you get a job there?”_

_He nods. “Amazing job. I hate to leave New York, but it’s a great opportunity, and only six months. After that I’ll be coming back.”_

_“I- I guess I’ll see you then,” Rey stammers. “G-good luck.”_

_“Thank you.” He pours wine for both of them. “Let’s not let that ruin dinner, though.”_

Too late, _she fumes._

* * *

One awkward airport dropoff and six months of flavorless monthly texts later, Rey is sitting in front of a massive bouquet from Ben. She opens the notes with shaking hands. 

_Rey!_

_I got back from this morning. I would have texted you but I wanted to surprise you- I just made it in time for the closing show. Break a leg, you’ll be amazing._

_Love,  
Ben._

Tears spring into her eyes of their own accord. Ben is out there. In the audience. Waiting to see her. After breaking her heart six months ago. 

She rips the card in half and throws it on the floor before studying the bouquet. 

Yellow roses. Sunflowers. Chrysanthemums. Irises. All of them mean friendship. 

This is the most obvious bouquet of “I know you like me but let’s just be friends” she’s ever seen. 

This night could _not_ get any worse. 

And then her co-stars Rose, Finn, and Poe choose this moment to burst into her dressing room. 

“Guess who came back to New York tonight?” Rose squeals. These are the only three people who know about her feelings for Ben other than herself. 

“Yeah, I know,” she snaps. “He sent flowers.”

Finn frowns. “You don’t sound too happy about that.”

“Have a look at the flowers.”

Her friends go to study the flowers, looking them up and down. “They’re beautiful,” Rose whispers. “What’s wrong with them?”

“Yellow roses: friendship,” she begins. “Chrysanthemums: well-wishes and friendship. Iris: the revitalization of an old friendship. Sunflowers for a durable and long lasting friendship.” She shakes her head when her friends still don’t understand. “He friendzoned me with a _bouquet_ , Rose!”

“Maybe he didn’t know,” Poe suggests. “Guys don’t always think that much about flowers.”

“He got back from a twelve-hour flight at two in the morning and _still_ came to the performance, Rey,” Rose wheedles. “I’m sure he wants to see you!”

“He _knows_ how much I love flowers,” Rey groans. “He’s probably just trying to let me down easy.”

“I don’t think he would have signed it ‘Love, Ben’ if he was,” Rose said, reading the torn card. “You can talk to him after the performance.”

“Whatever,” Rey fumes, and marches out of her dressing room. She will not let crying ruin her mascara.

* * *

Ben nervously waits in the audience, drinking his coffee to keep him awake. He’s tired enough to pass out right here, but he can’t miss Rey’s performance. Not after leaving her on such awkward terms before. 

Tonight, though- tonight he’s ready. He sent flowers to her dressing room. Has a speech all prepared, to explain himself and finally express his true feelings for her. They came so close, that day at the airport, but then everything had gone wrong and they’d barely spoken since. Tonight should make everything right.

Ben hopes she liked the flowers. He’d been exhausted, just called the florists to say that her favorite color was yellow and ‘throw in some irises’, because she was wearing an iris when they first met. Did she remember?

He is filled with a bizarre sense of dread, like his mistake six months ago has ruined any chance with Rey.

* * *

_Rey follows him as far as security, where he’ll have to leave for his flight._

_“I- I guess I’ll see you in February,” she says weakly._

_“I’ll miss you, Rey,” Ben replies in his best soothing voice. He will miss her terribly. “Really.”_

_Rey swallows hard. “Ben, at dinner last week. I- I wanted to say something but never got the chance. Ben, I-”_

_He holds up his hand to cut her off. “Don’t say it, Rey. Not if it’s what I think you’re going to say. I don’t think I could- not with-” He bites his lips. Certainly, he feels for Rey, but six months apart is the wrong foot to start on. “I’ll see you in February.”_

_“Have a nice flight,” she replies coldly._

_This will be a long six months._

* * *

But he forgets all these worries when Rey comes onstage. These past six months have only made her more radiant, and she absolutely _shines_ onstage. She has the voice of an angel and the passion of a goddess. He doesn’t remember her being this amazing the last time he saw her- though surely she was. His eyes do not leave her until she disappears offstage at the end of the show.

* * *

Rey was _not_ planning on finding Ben in her dressing room at the end of the show, smiling nervously and leaning on her wall. 

“Hi,” he says awkwardly. “Finn let me in.”

“Hi,” Rey says gruffly. “How was Japan?”

“It was fine,” he says. “I missed my friends, though. One in particular.”

_One **friend**_ , she fumes. _Just say it already._

“I see you got my flowers,” he says. “Did you- did you like them?”

This is too much for her. Break her heart, disappear for six months, and then come back and act like _this_ to her? “Yeah, they were _lovely_ ,” she says drily. “Very _friendly._.”

He frowns. “Is something wrong, Rey? I thought you would love the bouquet.”

“Really, Ben? You thought I would like getting rejected with _flowers?_ Tell me that you just want to be friends with a rose?” She punctuates the statement by tossing one of the roses to the ground. 

He really looks like he has no idea. “But- yellow is your favorite color. And you were wearing an iris when we met. I thought it would be… romantic.” He looks sheepish. 

Rey goes breathless for a moment. “Oh my god,” she sighs, as the realization of her own stupidity hits her. “Oh my _god._ ” She slumps against the wall. 

“Rey? Rey, you’re scaring me. Should I get Finn?”

“Ben,” she hiccups through tears and laughter. “Every single one of those flowers you sent me stands for friendship. I thought you were trying to friendzone me or something.”

“ _Friendzone you?_ ” Ben shakes his head. “I should have- I made a lot of mistakes in the past six months. But I never meant-”

Someone bangs on her dressing room door before he can finish. “Rey, you ready to go?”

She turns to Ben. “I’m going out for dinner with some of the cast. But- text me. Or something.”

He grins. “Something.”

* * *

When Rey returns to her apartment the next day, there is another bouquet waiting outside. 

Purple hyacinths for an apology. Lilacs for first love. Pink roses for romance. And an iris- which should mean friendship, but the language of flowers is flexible. Rey decides these flowers can have a new meaning. 

_Yellow for friendship. Pink for love. Irises for us._

**Author's Note:**

> I live for your feedback!


End file.
